The town’s investigation into the latest mercury spill discovered at its New Salem water plant has ended no closer than where it began at the bottom of a backwash pit that hasn’t been inspected in seven years.
Supervisor Jack Cunningham said the town has all but ended its investigation, which involved town police and a consultation with the FBI, into exactly how 2 to 4 tablespoons of mercury ended up on the bottom of a backwash wastewater manhole outside the water plant.
We won’t officially conclude our investigation until the final test results come in, but there’s no way of knowing how long the mercury has been down there,` Cunningham said Friday, June 19. `We have documentation that that manhole cover was last opened seven years ago.`
The Town Board authorized Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. on Wednesday, June 24, to conduct a `non criminal` investigation into mercury at the water plant to try to pinpoint a source of the spill.
Commissioner of Public Works Josh Cansler indicated that the timing was suspicious when the mercury was discovered on Thursday, May 28. Bethlehem was in the process of removing the last of its dated mercury flow meter switches from the water plant under a 2008 Department of Environmental Conservation consent order.
`The flow meters were all intact when they were removed,` Canslar said after the discovery was made. `We’ve had no [mercury] leaks in over a year.`
The mercury was seen as soon as the manhole cover was removed, according to Canslar.
Cunningham said the manhole cover was removed at the end of May because a new overhang is being constructed behind the water plant and workers were looking for underground pipes as they dug footings.
Still, with no more mercury flow meters at the plant and at least two reported mercury spills in as many years, the town’s original suspicions of potential tampering are seemingly unfounded, or at the very least, cannot be proven.
`We have looked into it and, at this moment, we cannot conclude on a source of the mercury,` said Cunningham. `We can’t find any indication where it came from.`
The supervisor said there was no evidence to move forward with a federal investigation or to contact Homeland Security, but said, `Our detective did talk to the FBI.`
Cansler stated no town workers were the subject of an investigation, saying at the time, `It’s not that we think someone did it, but there’s no source for it.`
Chief Water Plant Manager Richard Sayward said there are on average between six and eight workers at the plant during any given day, and one or two at night.
`It’s an around-the-clock operation,` he said.
Rick Georgeson, a Region 4 DEC spokesman, said on Monday, June1, his agency was notified `within the time required,` but it is unknown how long the mercury has been there.`
`We had our responders over there at the water plant and there was 2 to 4 tablespoons of mercury found on the site, which has been removed,` Georgeson said. `I understand it [mercury] could have been there for quite some time.`
The mercury and other contaminated materials were cleaned up but were not removed from the site until recently. The Spotlight took a tour of the water plant facilities and the Vly Creek Reservoir on Wednesday, June 17, and witnessed the materials being taken away in 55-gallon drums from the water plant by Precision Industrial Maintenance, Inc. The company was the same one hired to clean up previous spills at the water plant.
Cunningham said the company was not only removing the materials from the latest mercury discovery, but also from previous cleanups that were contained but not removed from the property until that day. He said the May mercury discovery and cleanup cost `more than $10,000.`
The town’s drinking water has been cleared by the Albany County Department of Health.
The original decision to remove the old mercury flow meters as a result of a consent order issued last June by the DEC that was the result of three separate investigations into incidents at the site involving the release of mercury and petroleum, as well as reporting violations.
In February 2008, DEC spokeswoman Maureen Wren announced the investigations and said Bethlehem’s water supply was tested by the state and the town and found to be clear of contaminants.
A year ago this month, the DEC fined the town $15,000 for `mercury and petroleum reporting and handling violations` that occurred over the two previous years. Cunningham said at the time the town only consented to the fine because it couldn’t prove that less than a pound of mercury had been discharged in a single spill at its water plant, which is the state’s threshold for reporting such a spill.
By paying the $15,000 and remaining compliant, which the town has done by removing all of the mercury switches by this June, Bethlehem did not have to pay an additional $60,000 civil penalty to the DEC, according to the state’s signed consent order.
In 2008, Albany County Sheriff’s deputy Gary Fish said he was fired by the town after he spoke out about the mercury spill at the town’s water plant, but town officials said he was fired because of repeated scheduling conflicts and would not comment further because the incident is a `personnel matter.`
Fish, who patrolled the Vly Creek Reservoir for 12 years, alleges there were inaccuracies in terms of the amount of mercury spilled at the plant in the report given to the public by Cansler in February 2008. He stated workers were constantly put at risk by `having to track through mercury for two years.`
Furthermore, Fish also said mercury-tainted sludge was routinely `hosed down` past the plant’s clear well and into a `sludge pit.` The clear well contains treated water that is pumped directly into the town’s water system; the sludge pit is where the most recent mercury was found this May.
Cunningham maintained there was no wrongdoing on the town’s part in Fish’s termination, but acknowledged the recent troubles at the water plant are part of the consideration in the town is looking in building a more modern facility at the site.
`Over the years there were incidents that were not cleaned up properly,` he said. `The plant has reached its useful life and with the new EPA standards set for 2012, it may be more cost effective to build a new facility.`
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